Whatcha Listening To? Wednesdays

Here's What I'm Listening To this week:

• Matt Nathanson - Room At the End Of the World
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Morning Thought  (I've been hearing them a lot on 88.9)
• Fistful Of Mercy - Father's Son (Ben Harper is in this band... Yep, THAT Ben Harper!)
• Youth Lagoon - Montana (My friend Brian introduced me to Youth Lagoon a few weeks back, and I love their lo-fi sound)

  

So, #WhatchaListeningTo? (That's right, I'm starting a hashtag. What!)

Spotlight: Tim Blane

Tim Blane's music is self-proclaimed "catchy singer/songwriter pop that's perfect for the front seat or the back porch."

Tim, I completely agree. Your music is actually perfect.... anywhere. 

Tim Blane Band  - Tim's 3rd from the Left (photo from Facebook)

His May 2011 album, You Can't Go Back, has been playing on my Spotify account for a few months now, and I have no complaints. "Magnetic", "Lay It All On Me", "Mischief" and "You Can't Go Back" are all favorites and are on my "starred" list.  Honest, quality, acoustic, pop.  Ain't nothin' wrong with that. The other handsome fellows in the photo above include Matt Owens (trumpet), James Casey (sax/vocals), James Williams (drums), Adam Tressler (guitar), and Reuben Cainer (bass).  Handsome fellowsm not included in the photo but are also band members, include Ben Zecker (keys) and Derrick White (trombone).  

Ever mess around with the GarageBand program on a Mac?  If so, you've seen him as a teacher on it.  Also, he was hired to write ringtones for Pepsi.  I'm actually in the market for some new ringtones, Tim... anyways, also, according to his website, he's "shared the stage with acts like the Goo Goo Dolls, CAKE, OneRepublic, KT Tunstall, Fabolous and Sister Hazel." That's, um, FA-BO-LO-US.

If you are at all intrigued to check Mr. Blane and his boys out, I highly suggest this little ditty:

Tim Blane - "Magnetic"

If you have any artists you think that I should check out and/or spotlight, please let me know! I'm always on the lookout for new tunes to fill my earbuds with...

Spotify Radio

I've been playing around with the Radio feature on Spotify today, and it's introduced me to some cool new music.

I randomly picked Chadwick Stokes to base a radio station off of, and I was not disappointed. Way to go, Spotify.

Today, I was introduced to and really liked:

Barefoot Truth  -  if you go to their website, you can download a free mix of their tunes! Thanks, BFT!

Leftover Cuties  - I love their album art on Places To Go

Artists/bands I know and like that were on the mix:  

O.A.R.  (they put on a great concert!)

Pete Francis (previously of Dispatch)

Iron & Wine

John Butler Trio

The Head and the Heart

If you have Spotify, definitely check out the Radio option.  It's like turning the Genius option iTunes, but it doesn't just use the music you already have; your ears will be introduced to a whole bunch of new artists.

Whatcha Listening To? Wednesdays

Here's What I'm Listening To this week (yep, a day late, oops!):

• Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
• Dawes - Time Spent In Los Angeles
• Washed Out - Amor Fati
• U2 - In God's Country (I know that this is an old one, but I've heard it on the radio lately and it makes me think of the movie Three Kings, which I love. David O. Russell is a directoral genius.)
• Chadwick Stokes - Back To The Races

  

So, now the question is, #WhatchaListeningTo?  (That's right, I'm starting a #hashtag. What!)

In Concert: Augustana and Graffiti6

Augustana and Graffiti6 performed at The Paradise Rock Club last night (January 31, 2012).  I was in desperate need of hearing good live music, and boy oh boy, did they deliver.

 

Graffiti6 opened the show, and my friend Randi and I caught their last few songs.  They sounded really fantastic live.  That's always the big question for me (and I'm sure most concert-goers): "I like this band,  but will they sound as good as they do on the album?"  I definitely want to check out more of their music.

Graffiti6

Augustana certainly seemed happy to be back in Boston.  Of course, they performed their well-known and much-loved song "Boston", and nearly everyone in the room whipped out their smartphones to record the song.  Some of my favorites were  "Sweet and Low" and "Shot in the Dark".

Augustana

Augustana

The rest of their tour brings them to such places as Philly, D.C., Atlanta and then back this way to Mohegan Sun Casino.

I have to share the video for "Steal Your Heart", mostly because it's a great song, also because it sort of reminds me of something The Killers (at least I think it's The Killers who it's sounding reminiscent of) would do, and partly because, um, the guys aren't hard to look at. #justsayin.

"Steal Your Heart" - Augustana

Fun With My Car Radio

I drive a small-ish SUV that has a built-in GPS system, and within that computer screen thing (sorry, can't help but use the word "thing" when it comes to my car) I can access the audio controls.  A feature within the audio controls is the read-out of what songs are playing on each pre-programmed radio stations (I don't know the official name of this feature, but am under the impression that each radio station is responsible for sending out this information).

The "at a glance" feature only shows 1-2 words of the song title or artist, which sometimes makes for funny phrase combinations... so, with that, please humor me.

"Possess Somebody"

"Radio Boy"

"Rain Drugs"

"Think Music."  Okay, I will. :-)

Making The Mixtape: High School

Oh, mixtapes. I miss you.  You actually made the fine art of making a mix require effort.  Sitting by the boombox or stereo tapedeck, hovering over the pause and stop buttons... ah, those were the days.  I loved making mixtapes, whether they were for myself or for friends.  To get a mixtape from a friend always made my day - In this photo is one made by me, and the top one is made by a middle/high school friend, Jeff.  

Just a small sampling of Jeff's mix:

Bush - The Chemicals Between Us

Toadies - Possum Kingdom

The Verge Pipe - Photograph

Smash Mouth - All Star

Marvelous 3 - Freak of the Week

Lit - Zip-lock

Matchbox 20 - Real World

My Mix:

Edwin McCain - I'll Be

Need To Be Next To You - Leigh Nash

Hemorrhage (In My Hands) - Fuel

Pinch Me - Barenaked Ladies

Take a Picture - Filter

I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden

As I think I've written before, my musical tastes have expanded and changed since high school ;-)  I am impressed with myself that I even still had these tapes, and don't really know why I had them in my apartment... but alas, they must mean something to me, right?  

Do you have any mixes from high school, or remember making them?